


Supernatural Sunburn

by wannaliveindeansdimples



Series: surf's up!verse [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Childhood Trauma, From Sex to Love, M/M, Slow Burn, Surfer Dean, Surfing, surfer!dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-08-14 22:26:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8031322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannaliveindeansdimples/pseuds/wannaliveindeansdimples
Summary: Two days until time for Cas to go home. Neither Dean nor Cas wants him to go, but neither wants to suggest he stay. Can they figure it out before it's too late?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I did not intend for this to be the slowest burn in history, but, um, it's been 2 years since I posted part two. 
> 
> Oops?
> 
> Heh. A couple of people commented recently asking for the sequel and while there is only this short chapter for now, consider this a promise that I will, eventually, finish it. ~~NGL it might be another two years, IJS~~
> 
> Hover over underlined words for their meanings.
> 
> TW for canon-typical fire-related awfulness.

“When I was five there was a fire,” Cas said.

They were lying on the bed, sunlight streaming across their naked skin. Dean had been tracing his finger all over Cas’s skin, paying no particular attention to the scars. He paused, hand hovering for a moment before resuming it’s trajectory.

“My sister’s nightgown was on fire and we had to get out. I clutched her to me to carry her out and I got burned.” He gestured at his arms. “They did grafts on my arms, but by the time they were done, I didn’t want to go through any more for my chest.” He smiled vaguely, obviously back in the past. “It put her out, so her burns weren’t even as severe as mine. She only had to have a few minor procedures.”

“Doesn’t sound like you were a paddlepuss to me. Not when you took on an overhead like that. Sounds like you were a pretty brave kid,” Dean said, slowly tracing over the scars themselves.

“Perhaps. It didn’t last.” Cas reached up and put his hand over Dean’s, holding it tightly. “Until I made myself come here, and met you, I was afraid of virtually everything.”

“I’m glad you came here, then,” Dean told him, smiling lazily and leaning down for a kiss.

He kissed away Cas’s frown. Then Dean kept kissing Cas until he himself was able to forget that Cas was leaving in two more days. Dean wasn’t ready. And he didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling yet. He just knew that Cas filled a hole in his life he hadn’t even known was there. But once Cas was gone, Dean understood that he would feel the emptiness of that hole then.

He really liked having Cas around and not even for the incredible sex they’d been having. There was so much more to it. They had an insane amount of attraction, that much was certain, but it was more than that, deeper, this connection they shared. Dean thought it was one of the gnarliest things he’d ever experienced. Even better, maybe, than hanging ten on a perfect wave.

Maybe.

 

*** 

 

Cas didn’t ever want to leave this island. He’d had the best moments of his life over the last few days. He’d never expected this trip to turn his world upside down. He’d never expected a bronze-skinned surfer to shift his reality completely on its head. Yet here he was. Shifted. Altered. Forever different because of a man whose speech he had barely understood when they first met. Why did he have to fall in love so far away from home?

As soon as he thought the words, he pulled up short. He couldn’t love Dean. He barely knew him. Besides which, Dean had made it clear, he didn’t do relationships. He didn’t do feelings. He didn’t fall in love and why would he ever make an exception for someone as unremarkable as Cas felt himself to be?

He wouldn’t. And Cas was just setting himself up for pain if he let himself acknowledge any feelings deeper than friendship and sex.

“Cas? Hey, man, you okay? You look like you just took a rail bang and got raked over.”

Cas snapped his gaze to Dean and did his best to smile, trying to remember what those phrases meant at the same time. “I’m fine. Just thinking about what I have waiting for me back at work.”

Cas didn’t think he’d imagined the way Dean’s face fell at the mention of his “real” life back home. Surely, though, he must have.

“Yeah. Guess you’re looking forward to getting back home, huh?” He was no longer looking at Cas.

“Not even a little bit,” Cas admitted. He shook himself. “Let’s not talk about it. Teach me to surf.”

Dean looked shocked. “You—really? You wanna learn?”

“Teach me. Do you have gear I can use or will I need to buy some?”

“Um, yeah, I’ve got stuff I think will fit. Let’s go.”

Dean pulled a little ways ahead and Cas followed behind, staring at the view. Dean was beautiful. That would have to be enough for now.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe is fed up with them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahoy, mateys! Thar be smuts ahead! If that shiver ye timbers, p'rhaps wait to read till yer safe at sea, eh?
> 
> I don't know. It's pointless to ask.

 

Cas was probably the worst surfer Dean had ever tried to teach. He tried. He really, really tried, but Cas was a disaster on a board. Dean felt so bad for him. In bed, the guy had perfect rhythm, but on the waves? No sense of timing whatsoever.

As smoking as he looked in his wetsuit, it was a damned shame.

“Dean,” Cas panted, coming to shore after yet another wipe out. “I just don’t think I’m getting it. Can we take a break?”

“Sure thing! Why don’t we head over and see Gabriel at the bar, see if we can’t get some drinks and grub, huh?”

Dean found himself using less surfer lingo these days. For a long time, he’d used it as a defense. With Cas, he didn’t really need one. He just wished he knew why the guy made his stomach do barrels the way it did. Or why he felt like he wanted to cry every time he thought of Cas leaving. Wasn’t he always the one sending people away?

“Hey you crazy kids, what’ll it be? You look like you’re in Mai Tai moods. Or are you still testing driving new drinks?” Gabriel had apparently had his extra bucket of chipper this morning.

“What do you think, Cas? Change it up again? Or do a repeat?”

Cas blinked, a strange look on his face. “I see nothing wrong with having the same drink all the time, if it makes you happy, do you?”

“Nah, man. Stick to the classics, right? If it’s good, why swap it out?”

Cas seemed relieved by Dean’s response, and gave him a small smile.

“Wow. That was... I honestly may be sick. You two are as dumb as hammers with no heads.” Gabriel’s chipper was wearing off already, it seemed.

“Fuck off and make drinks, Gabe!” Dean snapped, wondering if he should read into Cas’s question.

Did Cas want to stay? Here on the island?

 

***

 

It was his last night on the island. Their last night together. Cas didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t stay. He didn’t care about his job, and he certainly didn’t have much of a life back there, but if Dean wasn’t interested in long term, Cas had to respect that and let him go.

They were in the cave again. He didn’t know why he’d wanted to be here instead of his super soft hotel bed, except it felt more personal here. It felt like Dean was letting him in as much as he could by bringing him here. Which was stupid because Cas knew very well that Dean had brought many people here. Dean had been nothing but honest about his past.

“You’re thinking too much,” Dean said, eyes hooded as he leaned forward and captured Cas’s mouth.

Cas thought he could live for a full year on nothing but Dean’s kisses. His lips were so smooth and strong, his tongue so sure. The sparks their twining tongues sent to the rest of his body were like little jolts of ecstasy, coursing through his veins. Dean’s hands started roaming over his skin and he gave himself over to it, trying not to hear the soft refrain of _last time, last time, last time_ that his brain was whispering to torment him.

“God, your skin is like a drug,” Dean murmured as he kissed his way down Cas’s neck and across Cas’s shoulder. “You’re like one of those frogs people lick to get high.”

As aroused as he was, Cas still couldn’t help the shocked laugh. Dean lifted his head and smiled, staring into Cas’s eyes, obviously pleased he’d amused Cas.

“Your laugh is awesome too.” Dean kissed him again, a quick peck. “But I might like your moans better,” he whispered, sliding his hand over the bulge in Cas’s pants.

“Ohhh. Oh, Dean, that’s—” Cas’s brain shorted out as Dean’s hand made slow circles over the head of his penis through his shorts.

“Like that, baby? Fuck, I could do this forever.”

He seemed unaware of what he’d said, continuing to kiss his way down Cas’s torso toward his crotch. Cas on the other hand, suddenly had a pounding heart. Sometimes it really seemed like Dean did want him to stay, as much as Cas wanted to stay himself. Cas wanted to still Dean’s head and ask him directly, admit how he himself felt and ask Dean’s feelings on the matter. But, though he’d overcome so many fears on this trip, in this he was still petrified.

Better to part as two equal friends who might have been more, than as a heart-broken discarded lover and the man who didn’t want him.

When Dean’s mouth closed over the head of his erection, Cas momentarily forgot to be sad. It felt as though he’d grown erogenous nerve endings in every cell of his body and they were all linked to the part of him in Dean’s mouth. When Dean sucked, the pleasure seemed to start in his extremities and flow inward.

“Nothing has ever felt like this,” Cas gasped as Dean took him deep.

“Yeah?” Dean asked, cocky smirk on his face. “How about this?”

He pressed Cas further back onto the blanket and then crawled over him. When he started to move backward without doing anything else, not even kissing, Cas was confused at first. At least he was until the moment that his cock was engulfed by the tight, blinding heat of Dean’s hole.

“How—what—”

Dean grinned and shrugged, sinking down slowly onto Cas’s shaft. “Got myself prepped after my shower. Not like it’s a lot of work anymore. My body just wants to open up whenever you’re around.”

The whole time he spoke, he rose and fell on Cas’s erection. He stopped talking, though, when Cas shifted slightly and got the angle just right. Cas reveled in the sounds Dean started to make. The man was so damned beautiful, it wasn’t fair. How was it he got even more gorgeous when he was in the throes of passion? It felt like a middle finger from the universe, but somehow, Cas wasn’t complaining.

They rocked together, staring into each others’ eyes. It felt like too much, but Cas couldn’t make himself look away. Dean stared back just as intently. His green eyes sparkled in the low light and went wide whenever Cas hit just the right spot. Dean bit his lip and it sent another spike of arousal into Cas’s gut, causing him to need more. He grabbed Dean’s hips and thrust upward, hard and fast, causing Dean to cry out with pleasure.

“Oh, fuck, yes, yes, yes! Cas, I’m gonna—fuck, I’m coming! _Fuckfuckfuck_...”

He clenched down hard on Cas as he came and that put Cas even closer to his own orgasm, but not quite close enough. He looked down at the glistening drops of semen painting Dean’s belly and growled. He flipped Dean onto his back and pressed forward, taking Dean’s thighs up with him. He thrust wildly, still staring at Dean’s now blissed-out gaze, chasing the pleasure. He felt the deep tingling that indicated he was on the brink and pulled out quickly. He took himself in hand and splattered his release on top of Dean’s, mingling them on Dean’s body. Then he leaned down and kissed Dean deeply.

Cas pulled them into spooning, taking the little spoon position for himself. He could already feel the post-orgasmic endorphin drop starting and he needed this comfort, no matter how short-lived it might be. Dean kissed his shoulder.

“We should probably get cleaned up, huh?” Dean whispered in his ear, but making no effort to move.

“Shut up and fucking hold me,” he said, no heat behind it. He was suddenly exhausted.

Dean chuckled, taking no offense. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Within moments, Cas was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how much is left. I hope you liked it. Come give me schmoops! ♥♥♥


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas's last day on the island has arrived. Neither of them is prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT IS FINALLY DONE!! I'm very excited.

 

The next morning, Cas woke up with dread in the pit of his stomach.

At first, he wasn’t sure why. Soft light filtered in through the window of his hotel room and down onto Dean’s freckled cheeks, making him glow like an angel of the surf. The sex had been incredible, and waking up next to Dean was glorious.

Then it hit him. This would be the last time. He was leaving today. In a few short hours, he’d be on a plane, headed back to a pale gray existence with no Dean in it. No surfer lingo. No sun-kissed freckles. No eyes of mossy green. No mind-blowing orgasms with a beach bum sex god. It was over. As spectacular as it had all been, it had come now to the end.

He didn’t want to go.

He had some time before his flight, so he could have lingered in bed, watching Dean. Instead he decided he wanted every last moment of Dean’s presence—his conscious presence—that he could get. So he leaned over and lightly kissed Dean on his brow.

Dean frowned in his sleep, but did not wake, so Cas kissed his mouth gently. This made Dean smile and his eyes slowly opened.

“Hey, you. Last night was pretty killer, huh?” He reached out and stroked his fingers through Cas’s hair. “Damn, you’re gorgeous. Not a single beach bunny has a thing on you.” He leaned forward and kissed Cas again. When he pulled back he was still smiling, but then his face fell. “Forgot you were leaving today. You have time for breakfast?”

Cas slid his hand over to cup Dean’s morning wood. “I have time for a few activities,” he said.

“That works too,” Dean hissed. “But, maybe food first? I have to pee and I’ve got death breath.” He smiled, but he didn’t meet Cas’s eyes as he got out of bed.

“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll order us some room service?” Cas suggested.

Time seemed to run on fast forward after that. They had fruit and pancakes and bacon, with what felt like a gallon of coffee. They barely spoke while they ate. They shared shy, awkward smiles, mostly. Then they made love and Cas tried his best to pour all his feelings into his movements, since he didn’t dare voice them. If anything, Dean seemed to do the same and Cas had another moment of hope that Dean _did_ feel something.

If Cas had hoped that Dean might ask him not to go, though, he was disappointed. Dean kissed him deeply when it was over and then jumped out of bed to grab a wet towel to clean them up. His manner was brisk and energetic, as if leaving wasn’t the hardest thing Cas had ever had to do. As if it was no big deal.

“You need a ride to the airport?” Dean asked when the time for leaving had almost arrived.

“No, I, um, I have a car coming for me.”

For a split second Dean looked disappointed, but it passed so quickly, Cas thought he must certainly have imagined it.

“Okay, cool. There’s supposed to be a lot of good nugs today. Guess I’ll head down to the beach after you’re... um, after your car comes.”

Cas felt a numbness settle over him as the final moments of their time together dwindled. He still had half an hour until his car was due to arrive, but he wasn’t sure he could spend another minute in this painful limbo with Dean. He’d hoped against hope that Dean would ask him not to go or would at least confess deeper feelings for him than he’d admitted thus far, but neither of those things had happened. Was there any sense in waiting around any longer? He knew after their goodbyes were done he was likely to cry. At least if he sent Dean away now, he’d have time to compose himself before the car came.

“Well,” he said after another awkward silence had lasted over two minutes. “I suppose I should let you get down to the beach. No sense you putting it off on my account. I know what the ocean means to you.” His voice almost broke on the last sentence, but he held himself in check.

Dean did not look relieved. There was a very definite—if very brief—look of hurt that crossed his face at Cas’s dismissal. He smiled at Cas, but it did not light his eyes at all. Cas’s confusion only deepened.

“Sure thing. Love those waves. Can’t wait to get back to surfing all the time,” Dean said, tone passably cheerful. There was an edge to his voice, though.

“Hug?”

“Sure thing.”

What followed, however, consisted more of back slaps than physical affection. Cas regretted sending Dean away, but he didn’t know how to fix it. While he was still trying to come up with some sort of counter idea, Dean saluted him and walked toward the door.

“See ya, Cas,” he said.

Cas would have believed the cool smile and wave, if it weren’t for the shine of tears in Dean’s eyes and the catch in his voice on Cas’s name. He was frozen for a moment, his longing momentarily stealing his breath.

“Wait!” he said, but it was too late.

Dean had closed the door behind him.

***

Dean needed a drink. Cas didn’t want him to hang around anymore. Of course not. Dean was just some beach bum. Cas was a corporate big shot who’d been looking for a little fun. He didn’t need Dean and his stupid feelings. Cas had to go home today and he didn’t need some ridiculous melodrama and a surfer with sad eyes complicating his exit.

Dean made his way to the bar, holding his tears at bay. He didn’t do this. He didn’t fall for people and he didn’t do relationships that lasted longer than the average vacation. He didn’t. For Cas, though, he maybe would’ve made an exception. Not that Cas had ever given any indication that Dean’s unwanted feelings were returned.

When Dean got to the bar, Gabe was working at the far end, dealing with a couple of customers who looked like they might be a pain in the ass. Dean sighed and sat down to wait. Gabe spotted him after a minute or so and raised a finger. He made his excuses and hurried over to Dean.

“So, what’ll it be today? Kamikaze? Old Fashioned?”

“Cas is on his way home.”

“Double whiskey rocks it is,” Gabe said.

“You can put that on my tab,” a female voice to Dean’s right said.

The voice belonged to a very pretty blonde woman in a peach sarong. She had a hibiscus in her hair and a lei around her neck. For a moment, Dean just looked at her, nonplussed. He hadn’t been hit on the whole time he was with Cas. Then he remembered again that Cas was gone or leaving, and he decided he’d better get back on the horse sooner than later.

“You sure, sweetheart?”

“Oh, I”m more than sure. Handsome man like you shouldn’t drink alone,” she said, her voice pitching lower. She smiled at Dean and slid her fingers down his forearm. “I’ll have a vodka tonic,” she told Gabe.

Gabe looked at Dean for a few seconds, face inscrutable. Then he said, “Coming right up, kids.”

The blonde suggested they move to a table, then started flirting with Dean hardcore. He did his best, smiling and getting into her personal space—even touching her lei—but his heart really wasn’t in it. His heart, he had to admit at last, was with Cas. The bastard had had it from almost the very first moment, and Dean had been too blind to see it.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” he finally said. “It’s not you. I just realized I have feelings for someone else.”

She shrugged. “Hope they’re worth it.”

Dean smiled. “Yeah. He is.”

He stood up and walked down

“I’m in love with Cas,” he told Gabe with a grin.

Gabe rolled his eyes. “No shit. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I just saw your blue-eyed friend running off toward his hotel after he saw you and blondie making doe eyes at each other.”

“Aw, fuck. Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Not my business that you’re a dumbass, kid.”

“Dick. I don’t even know how to find him!”

Gabe sighed and reached under the counter, pulling out a card. “Here. I pumped him for information last week, in case you came to your senses.”

“What happened to it’s not your business?”

Gabe shrugged again and smirked. “Eh, I just thought it’d be more romantic for you to chase him down at the airport.”

“You’re a dick!” Dean called as he raced up the beach toward the road.

***

Cas ran toward the beach as fast as he could, wishing he hadn’t had to stop to pack first. He’d left his luggage with a bell boy, but with any luck, he’d be transferring it to Dean’s place soon. He hadn’t been running much since he got to the island, but it seemed he’d been keeping up with his exercise well enough. He was barely winded when he came into view of the bar.

He was scanning the beach for Dean’s outline, but some instinct made him glance toward the bar itself. When he did, the bottom fell out of his stomach and spewed acid all through his abdomen.

Dean was sitting at the bar, leaning very close to a pretty blonde and smiling flirtatiously at her. Cas felt sick. Dean wasn’t a cheater. So if he was hitting on someone else, then he believed they were over. Cas knew he must have imagined the sheen of tears. Either that or he’d hurt Dean by sending him to the beach, but Cas didn’t think that was the case. Dean had obviously been anxious to move on when Cas left. He didn’t love Cas back and Cas couldn’t even be mad. Dean hadn’t misled him. He’d been very honest about what sort of man he was. It wasn’t the sort who fell for stupid tourists with naive hearts.

Cas didn’t remember turning around, but the next thing he knew he was tipping the bell boy and retrieving his luggage. He blanked out again until he was sitting in the car on the way to the airport. He was functioning on autopilot. When he got to the airport, he tipped his driver and got his luggage out of the trunk. In a daze, he went through check-in and then made his way to the lines for security.

“Cas!” he thought he heard a voice call from far away.

Cas thought he must be imagining it. He almost kept going, but then he heard it again.

“Cas! Cas, wait! Please!”

Slowly, Cas stepped out of line and turned toward the voice. Incredibly, he saw Dean running through the terminal toward him. His cheeks were red and his eyes were wide with a mix of emotions. Fear and hope seemed to be at war in them.

“Dean, what—”

“Don’t get on the plane.”

Cas frowned, remembering the woman at the bar. “I really don’t think—”

“I know you saw me with the blonde, but it wasn’t what it looked like. I mean, kind of, but not really. I didn’t want to. I just thought you didn’t want me.”

“All right,” Cas said slowly, still not daring to hope Dean was here for the reason Cas hoped he was here for.

“I was scared before, but... Look. I’m not gonna be some decoy that sits in the line up and waits while some truly macking waves pass him by, Cas.”

Cas frowned. “I have no idea what you’re saying to me right now.”

“I’m saying, I don’t wanna miss out on something epic just because I’m afraid of a few dings on my deck, man. Even getting axed isn’t reason enough. I mean, we’re going off, right?”

“Dean, please. English. I don’t have the brain this morning to—”

“I’m saying I fucking love you!”

Dean looked every bit as stunned by the words as Castiel felt. But even as he stood there, blinking, fear obvious on his face, he didn’t run away. He didn’t take it back. He stood there, surrounded by staring onlookers, waiting. It took a moment of awe before Cas realized Dean was waiting on an answer.

“Oh. Oh, Dean!” He grabbed Dean by the arms and pulled him forward into a hug. “I love you too. God, do I love you,” he whispered into the surfer’s ear.

“Yeah?” Dean asked in a breathy voice.

“Yeah,” Cas confirmed, heart swelling.

“Then don’t get on that fucking plane, man.”

Cas smiled and shook his head. “No. I don’t think I will.”

“Then let’s go home, Cas. Want to?”

“More than anything.”

Dean’s smile was as bright as the sun. “You were right this morning. About what the ocean means to me? But I’ll let you in on a secret.”

“Oh?”

“You mean more to me than the ocean.” His smile softened. “And anyway, your eyes are bluer than She is.”

In spite of the audience they’d drawn, Cas dragged Dean’s face to his own and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. When they pulled apart, Dean was smiling, but then he frowned.

“Can you do this? Can you stay?”

Cas nodded. “My job means nothing to me. I’ve got some money saved to live on until I find a new job. And my house can easily be sold. Or I can rent it out for steady income. I can stay with you, Dean. I want to stay with you. I’m _going_ to stay with you,” he finished with a grin. “For as long as you’ll have me.”

“As long as the ocean has waves in it,” Dean promised.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hugs and kissed, my lovelies. i know i've been bad with the whole responding to comments thing. gonna do that, promise. so send me more? i read and love each and every one of them, i swear. they keep me going on the bad days. ♥♥♥

**Author's Note:**

> Shaka! Gimme some sick love? ♥


End file.
